Nanocrystalline W powders with an average crystallite size of about 50 nm were produced by mechanical milling. BCT phase was mechanically induced as a result of BCC lattice deformation (compression) along [110], upon 10 h, 20 h and 30 h milling corresponding to a magnetic saturation of 1.3, 6.9, and 9.8 mu Tm-3/kg. This BCT phase suggests the tetragonal deformation path to be responsible for the observed anomalous magnetism in W. Following DSC-TG thermal analysis, a magnetic saturation of 68 mu Tm-3/kg was obtained upon annealing the 30 h milled W powder at 1200 degrees C. In addition, two BCT phases with c/a = 1.313 (a = 0.29066, c = 0.38170 nm) and 0.907 (a = 0.32602, c = 0.29575 nm) were detected. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.